Work Pork Expo Attendance falls almost 17%

June 17, 2009 — 

Attendance at the World Pork Expo at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines last week dropped to 14,625, down from 17,556 last year, officials of the National Pork Producers Council said Thursday.

The decline was no surprise, considering the depressed state of the hog industry.

"With the market conditions, we knew some pork producers would not be able to make the trip this year," said John Wrigley, World Pork Expo general manager. "But with the addition of the H1N1 virus issue hitting at exactly the time international visitors had to make travel plans, we believe it had a significant impact on international attendance."

NPPC officials said participation in the Youth Swine Judging contests was up. More than $500,000 in show stock was sold, and the prize Duroc boar, from Malcolm Farms of Indiana, fetched $60,000 at the sale Saturday.

The 2010 World Pork Expo will be held June 9-11 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds.

Source: The Des Moines Register, June 12, 2009